Mid-air brawl breaks out over crying baby, as pilot threatens an emergency landing

A crying baby on a flight can cause a fair amount of tension - but not usually to the point where it ends in actual fisticuffs.

However, a flight almost made an emergency landing recently, after a three-woman fist fight broke out over a noisy toddler.

The incident erupted on an Air China flight from Chongqing to Hong Kong at just after 9am on Wednesday.

Two women were apparently woken up by the baby's cries and complained to its mother, 27-year-old Chan Juan Sung.

The dispute quickly escalated, as the two complaining women reclined their seats fully backwards, in a gesture of their anger.

A scuffle then ensued, with photos showing one woman getting her head knocked against an overhead locker. Crew members were forced to intervene and break the women up, as the pilot warned that the plane would have to make an emergency landing on the two-hour flight, unless the group calmed down.

A photo showing the fight was shared on social media

Passenger Xiong Wan, 45, told the Daily Mail: "I was sitting right next to them when they started telling the woman to shut the baby up. She started shouting back at them and before I knew what was happening she leant over the seat and punched one of them.

"They then started hitting her and all hell broke loose. They were fighting, the baby was now screaming and other passengers were shouting. It was like some bizarre film."

Air China spokesman Daio Weimin said: "Passengers cannot behave like this. Each and everyone must adhere to aviation laws to ensure a safe and comfortable flight for all."

Police were waiting in Hong Kong as the flight landed, in order to interview the women involved in the incident.

Crying children is one of the many dilemmas of air travel, whether you're a fellow passenger or a poor parent landed with the responsibility of trying to keep your little one quiet.

"There’s nothing that sets off the fireworks as much as Other People’s Kids (OPKs)," notes Christopher Elliott of National Geographic Traveler magazine. "On a recent flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles, I watched an elderly passenger who had the bad luck of being surrounded by screaming kids, one of them, unfortunately, my daughter, who, he remarked, 'acted as if the plane was her personal playground'.

"OPKs are unfixable. All the responsible parenting in the world can’t make up for boredom or pressure in the ears or a really bad in-flight movie. May I recommend a nice pair of earplugs?"